The Women's Enrichment Ministry of First Baptist Church in Orangeburg will hold its annual "Spring Forth" Banquet at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 19, at the Family Life Center, 2875 Columbia Road, Orangeburg. This event is for all Orangeburg area women and teenagers.

The evening will include a meal, special music and a guest speaker. Tickets are $10, and reservations must be made at either the Family Life Center or First Baptist Church by Friday, March 13. Childcare is available upon request.

Mission emphasis for the evening will be Cooperative Church Ministries of Orangeburg. Guests are encouraged to bring nonperishable food or paper items to donate to CCMO.

Music will be performed by singers Jane Williams and Brooke Rogers. Featured speaker at the banquet will be Jen Hatmaker, an up-and-coming women's Bible study writer and speaker whose topic "Traveling Together" is a celebration of godly girlfriends and the trials and joys of going through life together.

A daughter of a minister, Hatmaker received a degree in education from Oklahoma Baptist University. There, she met and married her husband, Brandon, and the couple has three children -- Gavin, Sydney Beth and Caleb.

Hatmaker became involved in women's ministry in 2000, after the family moved to Austin, Texas. There, with encouragement from a girlfriend, her Bible study teaching and writing began.

Hatmaker wrote her first book on studying God's word in 2004. By July 2008, she had written five Bible study books and "Ms. Understood: Rebuilding the Feminine Equation." Her Bible study books include "Makeover: Revitalizing the many roles you fill," "Girl Talk: Getting past the chit chat," "A Modern Girl's Guide to Bible Study," "Road Trip: 5 adventures you're meant to live" and "Tune In: Hearing God's voice through the static." In 2007, the Hatmakers left Lake Hills Church in Austin, where Brandon had been serving as an associate pastor, to begin Austin New Church in a diverse section of the city.

For more information on Hatmaker, visit www.jenhatmaker.com. For more information on the banquet, call 803-534-2960 or 803-536-1545.

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